Let me give y'all a little taste of what it is like to be told that you are interfering with higher priority service. This came out today and concerns *licensed* Hams using a band that they have been using for decades but now the Military (primary licensee) wants the band "quieter" in certain areas.
Its not hard to imagine that some of us could be in this boat if the RADAR boys got wind of anyone not complying with the DFS guidelines. Imagine if you were found to be running uncertified gear as well! Ralph ---------------------------- ZCZC AG19 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 19 ARLB019 >From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT August 31, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB019 ARLB019 ARRL Continues Efforts On Interference To PAVE PAWS Radar Sites On August 13, the ARRL began sending ''specific mitigation reduction numbers'' to 122 repeater owners, recommending that they reduce their signal anywhere from 7 dB to 56 dB, according to ARRL Regulatory Information Branch Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND. These reductions, requested by the US Air Force and the Department of Defense, only concern those repeaters identified by the DoD as affecting the PAVE PAWS radar system. ''Some reductions are going to be attainable,'' Henderson said. ''You can do 7 dB, but 56?'' He said such a reduction would ''not be realistic to achieve. While many of the affected repeater owners may not be able to achieve the required reductions, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try to meet the goal. Everyone involved needs to continue trying to meet the DoD's requirements. This gives us the best chance to keep as many of these machines as possible on the air.'' Henderson stressed that any order to shut down a repeater will come from the Federal Communications Commission, at the request of the DoD. ''This situation only affects those repeaters on the DoD's list in Massachusetts and California. It does not affect the everyday, casual user of 70 cm. This is not a wide-spread threat to the 70 cm band.'' Citing an increasing number of interference complaints, the US Air Force has asked the FCC to order dozens of repeater systems to either mitigate interference to the PAVE PAWS radars or shut down. The ARRL has been working with the DoD to develop a plan to mitigate alleged interference from 70 cm ham radio repeaters to this military radar system on both coasts. According to the DoD, the in-band interference from Amateur Radio fixed FM voice repeaters has increased to an unacceptable level. PAVE PAWS radars are used for national security functions, including early detection of water-launched missiles. They are critical to our national defense and are in use 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The Amateur Radio Service is a secondary user in the 420-450 MHz (70 cm) band, both by the Table of Frequency Allocations and the FCC Part 97 regulations. As such, Amateur Radio licensees, jointly and individually, bear the responsibility of mitigating or eliminating any harmful interference to the primary user, which in this case is the Government Radiolocation Service that includes the DoD PAVE PAWS systems. NNNN /EX -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** Join us at the WISPA Reception at 6:30 PM on October the 16th 2007 at ISPCON ** ** ISPCON Fall 2007 - October 16-18 - San Jose, CA www.ispcon.com ** ** THE INTERNET INDUSTRY EVENT ** ** FREE Exhibits and Events Pass available until August 31 ** ** Use Customer Code WSEMF7 when you register online at http://www.ispcon.com/register.php ** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
